Phata Poster Nikla Hero

Director: Rajkumar Santoshi

Genre: Comedy (You wish!)

Cast: Ileana D’Cruz and Shahid Kapoor

After Andaz Apna Apna and Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani, PPNH was looking like the movie which was going to be Shahid Kapoor’s big comeback into the industry after Jab We Met and probably the “Aankhon mei tera he chhera” song video of Strings! But instead of pulling Shahid from the depths of the bad luck pool, Rajkumar Santoshi got sucked into it himself! So now you are probably wondering that with the kind of legacy the director has, how bad can it be? Well, you don’t know the half of it!!

Where do I begin! The main plotot revolves around a mother-son relationship where the single mother (Padmini Kolhapuri), who is an auto driver by way, tries to raise a son to have a life of honesty and join the Indian police force because her proclaimed dead husband was a dishonest policeman. (Honesty and Indian Police! The script writer simply cracks me up! :D). The son (Shahid Kapoor) however has other plans and wants to become a movie star instead. (Yea, in the movie if not in real life :P) So he travels to Mumbai to follow his dreams at the same time telling his mother that he would join the police. (So much for honesty!)

Rest of the story in a nut shell: Shahid reaches Mumbai, makes friends with other struggling actors, tries to get auditions and photo shoot done in a police uniform, leaves the photo studio in the same outfit, is mistaken for a policeman and somehow ends up defeating the bad guys every time (yes, impersonating a police officer is not illegal!). Enter Ileana, a social worker whose only job is to report crime where ever she is (we do need more of those!), mistakes Shahid for a police officer and gets smitten by his heroic deeds. (All that without even once confirming whether he is for real or not! Ok sorry, won’t get into logic here…) The “villains” are preparing for a very secret operation (which everyone knows about) called “White Elephant” and are expecting a very highly infamous terrorist of sorts called Napoleon to help them successfully execute it. Meanwhile Shahid’s mother visits him in Mumbai, finds out about his lies and refuses to acknowledge him as her son. Shahid now gets the big revelation and promises to go all honest about his life. So what does he do? He plots a scheme with the police commissioner and lies about it to everyone! (You cannot make this stuff up!) Add confusion, some bachpan-ke-time-ke-jokes, a few slapstick comic scenes, some twists (not really), a funny fight sequence at the end and lo and behold, a typical Rajkumar Santoshi is done!

The first half of the movie is plain irritating and don’t be surprised if the theatre reduces to half the audience after intermission. Shahid in this new comic avatar is so bad that you actually wonder, “Do acting genes skip a generation??” (Pankaj Kapoor _/\_ ) Second half is still tolerable thanks to Darshan Jariwala, Saurabh Shukla and Mukesh Tiwari who add a pinch of comedy to this movie. The best part of the movie was the scene with Salman Khan and the revelation about Andaz Apna Apna 2 with Amir Khan! That’s right people!!! If that doesn’t bring a smile to your face I don’t know what will! Ailaa! Oui Maa! :D

Rinkesh Shah, a management trainee at Reliance Industries Limited and one crazy Andaz Apna Apna fan was pretty disappointed with the movie and says, “Bahot saaddd movie hai! Just because the name of the movie is Phata Poster Nikla Hero, does not mean that you have to literally show it in the movie! Seriously Bahot bakwaas movie hai, don’t waste your time on it !”

The music by Pritam is the only saving grace for the movie as some of the numbers are quite catchy. After Bakhuda, Shahid and Atif come together again for Rang Sharbaton Ka which is as good if not better. The movie picks up some dialogues from Andaz Apna Apna trying to harp on its legacy, but ending up doing, what we call in the management world, "Brand Dilution"! They got one thing right though: Iss movie ke bahot posters phatne waale hain! :P

Rating: Isko dekhne ki jagah aur kuch kaam kar lo!

* ½ stars

Check the trailer here!!!